A few weeks ago, I attended the Sgoil-Ghàidhlig Nàiseanta, or National Gaelic School, a weekend of Gaelic-learning and socialisation in Melbourne – or, as they say in Gaelic, “anns a’ Mheall Bùirn”.

Aside from the expected classes on grammar, pronunciation, and conversational skills, a major topic of discussion was the influence Gaelic has had on Australia and Australian English. Obviously, it’s sometimes difficult to tell which words came to (Australian) English through Gaelic and which through Irish, since the languages are so similar, but it’s fascinating to hear some suggestions of word relations I hadn’t considered before.

Due to my Research Project last year, I’m familiar with the shear reach and prevalence of Goidelic language in Australia during the early days. Whether Irish convicts or Gaelic-speaking highlanders fleeing the Clearances, Irish and Gaelic together were once the most spoken language in Australia after English. The presence of so many Gaels in Australia affected the culture in many ways, from the “traditional” Australian Bush music and dances to a near-certain connection between Gaelic Football and AFL, but I will be focussing on the language and words.

While there are dozens, if not hundreds or more, of Gaelic-origin words in English, many of these are found in all or most dialects of English. Such words include “smidgen”, “brat”, “brogue”, “gob”, “galore”, “to keen”, “slogan”, “whiskey”, and so forth.

Some may think that “ta” is simply a lazy way of saying “thank-you”, but where does it come from? It may look vaguely similar, but has none of the same sounds, with “t” rather than “th” and a long “aa” rather than the short one in “thank”. However, the Gaelic for “thank-you” is “tapadh leibh/leat”, pronounced “TA-pa leiv/let”.

But there are others which are only used in Australia. I used to think “rack off” was a fairy standard (if rude) phrase, but have recently learnt it’s only found in Australia – the Gaelic for go (imperative, plural), is “rachaibh”, pronounced “rack-uv”. Recently, sitting in class, we were working on prepositions in context, particularly “ri”, meaning “with”. My attention drifting, I just kept hearing “root”, “root”, “root”. A lightbulb moment! In Australia “root” is a slang term for sex. In Gaelic, “riut” (“with you”), is pronounced exactly the same. It’s a tenuous connection, but the best I can think of!

A sheoak is an Australian tree completely unrelated to the oak. Some have suggested that the name comes from the Irish “sí óg”, meaning “young fairy”, but an explanation I think more likely is the Gaelic “sítheag”, which means “female fairy”, and makes much more sense when you consider that some early spellings for the plant included “shiac” and “shiac”. It also makes sense to used a feminine term for sheoak when you consider that we also have heoaks.

Two Irish words in Australian English include “didgeridoo” and “waddy”. Don’t believe me? You think they’re Aboriginal words? Just let me explain.

“Dúdaire” or “dideaire” is an Irish word which can mean “pipe” or “trumpet” (“dùdach” is the Gaelic cognate), and it is pronounced “doodarra” or “didjarra”. Combine this with “dubh”, which means “black”, and you have “black trumpeter”, pronounced “didjarra doo”.

As for “waddy”, which is an Aboriginal hunting stick, this comes from the Gaelic/Irish word “màide”, meaning “stick”. It’s pronounced “matcha” in Gaelic, and it’s where we get the word “match” from. However, it’s pronounced “mahdee” in Irish. It still mightn’t look very similar, but let me explain a small facet of Goidelic grammar to you. Celtic words have a habit of leniting – changing the initial sound – at every opportunity. One of these is after some possessive pronouns, such as “mo” (“my”), “do” (“yours”), and “a” (“his”). “M” becomes “MH”, which is consistently pronounced “V” in Gaelic, but is only “V” in Irish before a slender vowel. It’s “W” before a broad vowel.

Imagine that a group of Irish-speakers encounter an Aboriginal tribe – a scenario not so unlikely when you consider that a significant percentage of early settlers and convicts were Irish-speaking – and notice that they’re carrying clubs. In an attempt to communicate, one of them points to the club and says, “Do mháide?” (Your stick?, pronounced “do wahdee?”). The Aboriginal man nods, thinking that the whitefella is given the word for a nulla nulla in his own language. “Waddy,” he agrees. Later, having learnt a bit of Irish and assuming it’s the language used by all white people, he encounters the English overlords, and explains to them that the stick he’s carrying is his “waddy”.

What about “chook”, that ubiquitous word for chicken used by anyone not living in a metropolitan area and quite a few within? You might think it the word of farmers, but at my uncle’s birthday recently, I found “chook” listed as a title the menu above dishes such as “schnitzel parma” and “warm chicken salad”. The best guess for this is the Irish/Gaelic for “come”, often listed as “tiuc” in Australian documents but actually written “teacht” in modern Irish. Both are pronounced more-or-less like “chuck” or “chook”, and probably explains why I call out, “Here, chooky-chooky-chooky” when I go down to the chook house.

Have you ever wondered why you say something twigged to you? What has suddenly understanding something got to do with small bits of tree? Well, the Gaelic word for “understand” is “tuig”, pronounced “twick”. Although I’m familiar with the phrase “tha mi a’ tuigsinn” (“I am understanding”), the use of the preposition in the English is consisted with the way things are phrased in Gaelic. You don’t like something, it’s “toil leat” (“nice with you”). You shouldn’t do something, it’s “coir dhuit” (“fitting to you”). In the same way, maybe you don’t understand something, it’s “tuig dhuit” (“understanding to you”)?

In fact, in some ways the Gaelic/Irish way of phrasing things has stuck around in our speech longer than the words themselves. Why do Australians say “good on you”, rather than “good for you” like everyone else? Well, putting things “on” or “with” people is very common in Gaelic/Irish – for example, “tapadh leibh” (thank-you, Gaelic, literally “thanks with/on you”), beannachd leibh (bless you, or rather, “blessings with/on you”), Dia dhuit (“hello” in Irish is literally “God to/on you”), and so on.

Well, I think that’s about enough for now. I might get around to telling you about the Sgoil Nàiseanta one day. I might not. Christmas is coming up, so, Nollaig Chridheal!, and, we’ll see.

Edit: Here are just a few more words I can’t believe I forgot.

First, a mainstream English word: buddy. This comes from the Gaelic “bodoch”, which no means “old man”. But it’s also (or was, at one point) a friendly term between mates: a male might call his good friend “bodoch”, according to the etymological story I’ve been told. Over time, this changes from “boddock” to “buddy”.

And now an Australian word. The Irish for “hard” or “difficult” is “deacair”, pronounced “jucker”. During my brief time at the Irish club, we were taught this word with the mnemonic “hard yacker”. “Yacker” or “yakka” is a Strine word meaning “work”; you might say “mucking out a chook house is hard yacker”.